Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Poll: 56% Of Americans Want Indoor Mask Mandates To Continue
Newsweek: Most Americans Still Support Mask Mandates As States Relax Rules: Poll
A majority of Americans still support mask mandates even as states continue to relax their rules regarding masking, according to a new poll on Sunday. Masking requirements have long been a point of contention throughout the pandemic. The relaxed rules for indoor venues and schools come as COVID-19 cases in the United States dropped significantly since peaking earlier in the winter during the Omicron surge. But the CBS News-YouGov poll found that most Americans still support mask requirements for indoor venues. (Stanton, 2/13)
Dallas Morning News: Walmart And Sam’s Club Lift Mask Mandate For Vaccinated Employees
Walmart sent a memo to its U.S. workforce Friday afternoon lifting its mask mandate for fully vaccinated employees at Walmart and Sam’s Clubs, unless required by state and local mandate. The decision comes as several states have dropped their indoor mask mandates. Texas hasn’t had an indoor mask mandate since March 2021 when Gov. Greg Abbott lifted it, but “strongly encouraged” the wearing of masks in public. Amazon said on Thursday that fully vaccinated employees no longer had to wear masks inside its warehouses and removed COVID-19 paid leave for unvaccinated employees. Employees have to be vaccinated by March 18 to receive COVID-19 related paid leave in the future, Amazon said. (Halkias, 2/11)
Politico: Newsom Wants To End School Masks, But Teachers Say Not Yet
Blue states are ditching their school mask mandates, but California is stuck as powerful teachers unions push back. The classroom was always going to be the last stand for the mask wars in California. Schools stayed closed longer here than anywhere else in the country as teachers unions made access to vaccines a condition of their return. More recently, teachers have demanded better masks and more testing to guard against the Omicron variant. (Luthi and Colliver, 2/13)
And more news about California mandates —
San Francisco Chronicle: California Legislators Push To Mandate Vaccines For Employees Of All Businesses
California legislators are trying to succeed where the federal government couldn’t by mandating that all businesses require their employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, introduced a bill Friday that would mandate vaccines for workplaces and require employers to verify that their workers are immunized. New hires would need to have at least one shot by their first day — and the second within 45 days. The measure, AB1993, would include exemptions for people who cannot get vaccinated for medical reasons or those who oppose vaccines on religious grounds. (Gardiner, 2/11)
